Electronic cigarettes use may soon become illegal at Tompkins County places of employment.

A county law, which expands anti-smoking rules to include a work-place ban on e-cigarettes, is set for consideration at The Tompkins County Legislature’s 5:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting at the Gov. Tompkins Building, 121 E. Court St.

The lawmakers could approve a public hearing date, which moves the law toward final approval.

The law would ban e-cigarettes in all county bars, restaurants and other places of employment, Tobacco Free Tompkins Coordinator Ted Schiele said. Schiele also works at the Tompkins County Health Department.

“If you are employed to do work in an enclosed space, you should not be subjected to the tobacco smoke,” Schiele said.

According to the proposed law, the legislature would declare e-cigarettes a potential public health risk. E-cigarette smoking makes a cloud of known carcinogens and chemicals that can cause airway irritation, the law said further.

Very little research is out on e-cigarettes and their carcinogen properties, Schiele said.

“The idea that we’ve been down this path before of not knowing what things are, and not worrying about it until we know, and we’re not going to go down that path,” Schiele said.